Good deeds benefit Mackeys, Fulmers

Nate Barrett speaks with Central Catholic football player Patrick Mackey after he was presented the Courage Award during the National Football Foundation honors dinner Monday night inside the Purdue Memorial Union.

The standing ovation in the Purdue Memorial Union ballroom started around 8:15 p.m. Monday night.

One of its recipients walked to the stage, his outward appearance no different than the football teammates seated at his table. The other prepared to return to an Indianapolis hospital room, displaying more bravery than should be required from a 7-year-old.

In the past year, no local sports story was both more heartbreaking and inspiring, more tragic and life-affirming, than that of Central Catholic senior Patrick Mackey and young Winamac fan Cooper Fulmer.

The two unlikely allies were again united as co-recipients of the Courage Award at the honors dinner for the National Football Foundation's Joe Tiller Chapter of Northwest Indiana.

Winamac's football team rallied around the leukemia diagnosis of Cooper, the young brother of senior lineman Gavin Fulmer. The story deeply touched Knights senior lineman Mackey, who lost his sister, Claire, to leukemia in 2011. So he raised money for the Fulmers among his teammates, classmates and the CC community prior to the teams' Class A regional game in November.

Days after Mackey received the Spirit of Sport Award at the Indiana Football Digest's Griddy Awards for his gesture, the story took an ironic and unsettling twist. When Mackey attempted to donate during a Central Catholic blood drive last March, the hemoglobin levels of his sample measured low.

Further tests led to a startling diagnosis - leukemia - that shook the Central Catholic community. The tremors were felt as far away as Winamac.

Remembering the kindness Mackey had shown one of their own, the Winanac community stepped up. During a week of fundraising events - including a banquet, cookie sales, and an auction where football players could be rented for household chores - Gavin Fulmer said the Warriors raised "a couple of thousand dollars."

Winamac coaches and team captains plan to present the donations to Mackey in July, when he is allowed more contact with others.

"You know that people are giving a lot more than they have sometimes, so you really are grateful for everything that people do for you," Mackey said.

Purdue quarterback Rob Henry and receiver Danny Anthrop, Mackey's friend and former Central Catholic teammate, introduced the Courage Award on Monday. One year earlier, Anthrop received the first Courage Award for helping save the life of his uncle, Joe, in January 2011.

"Patrick comes from a very strong family, and he's one of the toughest kids I know," Anthrop said during his remarks. "I asked him how his cancer treatment was going, and in his typical fashion, he said, 'Chemotherapy isn't really as bad as people make it out to be.' "

Patrick admits that isn't completely true, since he wasn't sure he could attend the dinner until Monday afternoon. Yet despite dealing with the at-times debilitating side effects of chemotherapy, Patrick briefly attended his prom and walked at his graduation ceremony.

His father, Joe, said once Patrick learned so many of his teammates would be at Monday's event, there was little chance he wouldn't summon the energy to attend as well.

Cooper will soon learn if he has reached the "maintenance" stage of his treatment or if he must continue with his chemotherapy cycles at Peyton Manning Children's Hospital in Indianapolis. Gavin said his brother has returned to playing sports, when his treatment schedule allows.

Patrick will soon return to Riley Hopsital for Children in Indianapolis, and Joe Mackey says the next 28 days are crucial. As Patrick's fight continues, so does the inspiration his classmates draw from him.